William Campbell (politician)

Lord William Campbell

Lord William Campbell (born around 1730 in Scotland , † September 4, 1778 in Southampton , England ) was a British colonial governor of Nova Scotia and the Province of South Carolina .

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William Campbell was a son of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll (around 1693-1770). Between 1752 and 1760 he served in India in the Royal Navy . During the Seven Years War he was used in North America. In 1763 he married Sara Izard, a sister of the future US politician Ralph Izard, in South Carolina . Campbell then returned to Great Britain, where he represented the then Scottish constituency Argyllshire in the House of Commons between 1764 and 1766 . Between October 1766 and October 1773 he served as British colonial governor in Novia Scotia.

In 1775 he became British Governor of the Province of South Carolina, successor to acting Governor William Bull II . Campbell had long sought this post, also because South Carolina was his wife's home. He took up his post on June 18, 1775. From the beginning he had to deal with the events of the looming War of Independence . South Carolina was all about revolution. There was unrest and increasing violence between the future Americans and the loyalists . At that time the rumor arose that Campbell wanted to secure British power with the help of Indians and a slave revolt he had initiated. Such and similar accusations made him increasingly hated by the American patriots . After only three months in office, Campbell saw that he could no longer stay in South Carolina. On September 15, 1775, he fled to Great Britain on board a British warship. He sustained an injury with a splinter of wood. He never really recovered from this injury. He died three years later of the long-term effects of this injury in Southampton.

Web links

• Campbell at the History of Parliament
• Campbell in the South Carolina Encyclopedia
• Campbell at Carolona.Com
• Campbell at Bluepete.com
• Campbell in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography